Queen Elizabeth II in open car during 1959 Royal Tour (notice kids with cameras).

Buried away in a dusty, old photo album somewhere, a photograph I took with my Kodak Brownie “Holiday Flash” camera sits mounted in those black, triangular photo corners. There might actually be two or three photos in that series. But the best of them – if you look very closely at the snapshot – shows a long limousine carrying an apparently important person who is waving in the middle of the picture. The only sound I remember – above the nearly deafening cheering around me as I framed the shot – was my mother entreating me.

“Take it now, Ted,” she said. “There she is!”

The problem, you see, was that by the time Queen Elizabeth’s limousine passed our location – somewhere in east-end Toronto that morning in 1959 – we had been pushed back by the police so far from the roadway and people nearby had crowded in so densely in front of me that all I had in my Brownie viewfinder was a sliver of space in the middle of my shot and a split second to click the shutter in order to capture the image.

Today, during the 60th anniversary observances of Elizabeth’s accession to the thrown (her father George VI died on Feb. 6, 1952), one would be hard pressed to prove that the picture I snapped back in 1959 showed Queen Elizabeth II during her official tour of Canada.

Perhaps that unsatisfying experience explains why – ever since – I have never really become a Royal watcher. Just like my Brownie camera photograph I’ve always felt distant from the Queen and her family. In fact, ironically, it was prior to that 1959 visit, which Buckingham Palace and the Diefenbaker government preferred to call a “Royal tour,” that at least one other Canadian wasn’t particularly impressed. Just before the Queen arrived, NBC’s “Today Show” interviewed CBC personality Joyce Davidson, who is reported to have commented that as “an average Canadian” she was “indifferent” to Elizabeth’s upcoming tour. If they’d interviewed me with my box camera photo of the Queen in a distant cavalcade, I think I would have agreed with Ms. Davidson.

Oh, there are plenty of reasons why I might have become an avid fan of the Royals. During a family trip to Europe in 1964 to visit relatives in Greece, we stopped for two weeks of holidays in Britain. I loved the U.K. Whether it was Soho, Oxford or the Shakespearian theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, I fit right in. I think I felt more at home seeing Lord Elgin’s marbles from the Greek Acropolis in the British Museum than I did visiting the actual Parthenon where they’d come from in Athens.

Add to that, my mother-in-law (a Scot from Nova Scotia) never missed the Queen’s Christmas message; nor, consequently did my wife or I. So, there is every reason I should have become a dedicated fan of the Royals, if not a monarchist. But I never did.

Dame Vera Lynn in the Cabinet War Rooms autographs copy of her book, "We'll Meet Again," in 1995.

Despite my disconnect with the House of Windsor, I have had a soft spot for another unofficial member of British royalty. Always a student of history, I grew up reading about, watching film of and listening to recordings of Dame Vera Lynn singing all those wartime chestnuts – “White Cliffs of Dover,” “When the Lights go on Again,” “There’ll Always be an England” and “We’ll Meet Again.” I had often been fascinated by the way the British songstress seemed to embody the spirit of England – its indomitable optimism, quiet courage, patience and even its sense of humour – during the Second World War. Then, in 1995 we had a chance meeting.

My wife and I were enjoying an anniversary present from my parents – a week’s travel in the U.K. My sister and cousins had joined us and, on our second day holidaying in London, they noticed that Dame Vera was about to announce a fundraising and awareness-raising campaign to assist veterans in need. It was to take place in the historic Cabinet War Rooms under London, where Winston Churchill had endured the darkest days of the Battle of Britain and the Blitz during the war.

Armed with a copy of a book my father and I had co-authored, “Days of Victory,” I asked if I could meet the lady and give her a signed copy of our book. Dame Vera’s handlers agreed and there I was in front of lights, mikes and news cameras presenting “the Forces’ Sweetheart” with Dad’s and my co-authored book.

“To Dame Vera Lynn,” I inscribed on the title page, “who made the lights go on again all over the world.”

Whereupon she took a copy of her latest book, “We’ll Meet Again,” and signed it:

“To Alex and Ted. Yours, Vera Lynn.” And then she added a hug for emphasis (and the news cameras still clicking and rolling on the entire spontaneous moment).

One Response to “The royal image”

This column resonated with me for a couple of reasons. First, unlike small-r republican Mr. Barris, I’ve become a monarchist as I’ve gotten older. (Continuity… stability… dignity… and the fact that my first journalism paycheque was for helping with CKWS Radio-Television’s coverage of a royal visit to Kingston 40 years ago.) As for Dame Vera Lynn, a recent, fortunate acquisition of ours is an old record of her greatest hits — held for decades before by a dear aunt who recently downsized her home. I wasted no time putting it on my (dusty) turntable, and warm nostalgia radiated from the speakers. So, Ted, to quote another great wartime entertainer: Thanks for the memories!

Leave a Reply

U.S. Stalag Luft III PoW group honours Ted

The Great Escape: A Canadian Story has received its first recognition in the United States. In late August 2014, members of the Stalag Luft III Prisoners of War Association in the U.S. presented Ted Barris with a “Certificate of Honor" for his work on publishing the historical account of the famous 1944 breakout in the Second World War.

Ted does TEDx Talk

On May 8, 2013, Ted Barris spoke to students of St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Durham Region (east of Toronto). The original TED Talk presentation posed the question: Why should young people reflect on war and veterans?

2014 Libris Award

During a gala ceremony in Toronto, on June 2, the annual Libris Awards were presented. Ted Barris’s book, “The Great Escape: A Canadian Story,” received the 2014 Libris Best Non-Fiction Book Award, sharing the honour with Chris Hadfield for his book “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth.” In presenting the award, host Terry Fallis explained the criteria: “The award for non-fiction book of the year goes to a Canadian work of non-fiction published in 2013 that made a lasting impression on the Canadian book selling industry, through wide media attention, increased traffic to bookstores and strong sales.”

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal

During an awards ceremony at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on Oct. 14, 2012, Sen. Joseph Day presented Ted Barris with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. The announcement issued with the award said, in part, “the medal is a visible and tangible way to recognize outstanding Canadians … who have built and continue to build this caring society and country through their service and achievements.”

Commendation

On July 27, 2011, the Minister of Veterans Affairs for Canada awarded 19 citizens his annual commendation. Traditionally, the award is “presented to those veterans … who, in an exemplary way, have contributed either to the care and well-being of veterans or to the remembrance of the sacrifices and achievements of Canadians in armed conflict.”

Most of the 2011 recipients are veterans. Ted Barris, a civilian, also received the commendation.

About Ted Barris

Barris is an accomplished author, journalist and broadcaster. As well as hosting stints on CBC Radio and regular contributions to the Globe and Mail and National Post, Barris has authored 16 non-fiction books and is a full-time professor of journalism at Centennial College in Toronto. He has also written a weekly newspaper column - The Barris Beat - for more than 20 years.

Featured Posts

An acquaintance of mine told me about the night he met up with a music legend. For weeks, before Paul McCartney’s most recent concert stop in Toronto, my acquaintance and his partner debated whether they should part with the cash required to get into the Air Canada Centre to see and hear the former Beatle. […]

You’ve seen the advertisement on TV in the past few weeks. The two swaddled infants appear lying on a multi-coloured mat. The babies seem contented and comfortable as they lie there. One is cooing; the other has a partial smile. As I looked at the ad, it never occurred to me to ask what gender […]

For some of us, Sunday morning holds a ritual that’s nearly religious. I’m talking about my oldtimers’ hockey league. But what with people away on holidays and a flu bug going around, attendance last Sunday wasn’t what it should be. One of my teammates arrived just before the first game, at 7 a.m., and was […]

Radio, television, the newspapers and most of social media were all buzzing, Monday night, because Toronto Police had found a tunnel a stone’s throw from an indoor tennis court facility in northwest Toronto. It wasn’t just any tennis court. It wasn’t just any tunnel. The tunnel was big enough to live in and apparently pointed […]

I read the newspapers over the weekend. I expected to see news about a trade involving the Maple Leafs. And there it was on the front page of Monday’s Toronto Star sports section. Defenceman Cody Franson is gone. So is perhaps the hardest working forward on the team, Mike Santorelli. Then, Tuesday online, I caught […]